Open doors have reported this week that in 2011 lives have been changed, communities transformed and hope restored as never before in North Korea and the Middle East. Over 3 million Christians received Bibles and Christian literature, over 263,500 received Bible training and 172,000 benefited from development projects. Despite decades of persecution, the church in North Korea continues to survive underground with an estimated 200,000 – 400,000 believers. Iran now has the highest rate of Muslims converting to Christianity in the Middle East. Literally millions of Muslims in the Middle East have encountered the Gospel message in recent years via satellite TV and the Internet. During the short window of time of no checks at the Libyan border with Egypt, more Bibles reached Libya than in the previous 42 years. In Syria, Open Doors distributed as much as possible while it was still safe to travel.

Praise:

the LORD for his unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind, for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. (Ps.107:8-9)

‘The World Prayer Assembly in Indonesia in May was the most significant international prayer gathering I have ever been part of,’ says Brian Mills of the International Prayer Council, a collaborative network of prayer movements around the world. As one of his personal highlights he mentions the Prayer Tower in Sentul City, where Indonesian believers pray 24-7 throughout the year. ‘Every time I looked in there, hundreds were praying,’ says Mills. ‘And this is only one of the many hundreds of prayer towers throughout Indonesia.’ This was also inspiring the 600 strong Chinese delegation. ‘The Chinese were deeply touched by God's Spirit,’ reports Mills. ‘China is establishing 6,000 houses of prayer, which they call Walls of Prayer. One ministry alone has seen a 726% increase in the number of people coming to Christ in the past seven years compared to the previous seven years, and this has happened ever since they started to emphasize prayer.’ Source: IPC Connect newsletter

A petition of half a million signatures supporting the traditional definition of marriage has been handed in to Downing Street . The petition by the Coalition for Marriage supports the legal definition of marriage as the ‘voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others’ and expresses opposition to any attempt to redefine itn - It was signed by over 550,000 people. While the list of signatories was submitted to Downing Street, the full petition of names and addresses will be handed in to the Home Office as it is too large to deliver to No 10, filling more than 30 A4 boxes. The petition was launched on 20 February in response to the Government's plans to redefine marriage. Although the petition was submitted, it remains open and www.C4M hopes to reach a million signatures in the coming months. It comes just before a public consultation on redefining marriage closes on Thursday.

Pray:

for a favourable response to this petition and for further signatories to sign-up in the months ahead. (Heb.13:4)

Most people alarmingly underestimate the health risks of smoking cannabis, the National Lung Foundation has warned. Almost 90 per cent of people think a tobacco cigarette carries a greater risk than a cannabis joint – but the risk of lung cancer is actually 20 times higher with cannabis. The British Lung Foundation (BLF) carried out a survey of 1,000 adults, and a third wrongly believed cannabis did not harm health. The BLF said the lack of awareness was ‘alarming’, and issued a report warning people about the dangers saying that smoking one cannabis cigarette every day for a year increases the chances of developing lung cancer by a similar amount as smoking 20 tobacco cigarettes each day for one year. ‘We therefore need a serious public health campaign – of the kind that has helped raise awareness of the dangers of eating fatty foods or smoking tobacco – to finally dispel the myth that smoking cannabis is somehow a safe pastime’ say BLF.

Pray:

for better education to alert people to the newly discovered dangers of taking drugs such as cannabis. (1Co.6:19-20)

The number of confirmed and suspected cases of legionnaires' disease in Edinburgh had risen to 80 by last Saturday withevery prospect of further cases being confirmed. Patients being treated in Scotland's biggest outbreak of the disease include 15 cases in intensive care. On Friday the North British Distillery in Edinburgh was served with an improvement notice by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). However, both the firm and health inspectors said the order did not mean that its three cooling towers were the definitive source of the outbreak. The Health and Safety Executive and Edinburgh City Council are continuing their investigations into the possible source of the outbreak. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's Health Minister said: ‘Although there has been a rise in the number of confirmed cases, it is reassuring to see that the number of suspected cases is decreasing and that 16 people have now been discharged from hospital.’

Pray:

for all those affected by the disease and for the authorities to be able to resolve the problem at its source. (Ps.116:15)

The Right Reverend Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, condemns abortion, divorce, and promiscuity in a new pamphlet that reflects on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which was celebrated in the past week. He raises concerns about the state of the family and its children in England, including the unborn, and says ‘the 2012 Jubilee offers us an opportunity to pause and reflect not only on an extraordinary reign but also on what the Jubilee could mean to us as a nation.’ The pamphlet, published by the Bible Society, is entitled Jubilee Then and Now: A big idea for the 21st century. In it Bishop Chartres reflects on the current social situation in which ‘Literally millions of children grow up without knowing a stable, loving, secure family life – and that is not to count the hundreds of thousands more who don’t even make it out of the womb each year,’ he writes.

Pray:

for a greater desire and commitment to stabilize family life by people in this country, rather than a ‘lifestyle’ that can be abandoned on a whim. (Ge.2:24 )

On the 11th June the General Medical Council (GMC) decided to continue disciplinary proceedings against Christian GP Dr Richard Scott, despite the fact that the patient who made the complaint has refused for two years to give evidence face to face. (See Prayer Alert 21-2011) Dr Scott works at Bethesda Medical Centre in Margate, and was first reported to the GMC in September 2010 for discussing his Christian faith with a patient at the end of a private consultation. He was threatened with an Official Warning by the GMC, a blemish on his 28 years’ service as a professional. As well as deciding to continue with the proceedings, the GMC has also made the extraordinary decision that part of the case will be held in secret. The press and the public will be barred from attending, and Andrea Williams, CEO of the Christian Legal Centre, has been specifically excluded from attending the hearings to support Dr Scott.

Pray:

the hearing will be fair and will set a benchmark for future expressions of faith in the NHS not to be seen as illegal. (2Ch.19:7)

The demands and stress of deployment in Afghanistan can lead individuals to switch off from thinking and communicating with their families back home, in order to focus on the task in hand. However, this is distressing for the families and leads to fear and worry. Then, in reverse, some children of serving personnel deployed get too upset when talking to their parent on the telephone or video link via Skype and so refuse to do so. This in turn proves to be upsetting and stressful.

Pray:

about the needs of both those deployed and the families back home that there will be good communication and support between them and that those deployed and those back home will have the appropriate concern for the other. (Jn.15:12)

According to the annual Global Peace Index (GPI) published by the Institute for Economics & Peace the world has become more peaceful for the first time since 2009. However it also reports that the UK is less peaceful. Globally, austerity-driven defence cuts creating gains in several indicators of militarization and improvements in the Political Terror Scale have led to changes in the annual rankings, whilst Syria has dropped over 30 places on the rankings. The index reveals Somalia as the least peaceful country, which with Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo make up the bottom five. The UK has fallen three places to 29th position, which means it is the first time the UK placement has not risen in the list. The index also estimates that if the world had been completely peaceful in 2011, the additional economic impact would have been an estimated $9tn - equal to the size of Germany and Japan's economies combined.

Pray:

that our rankings in this index would rise and we would see the positive impact on our economy. (Ps.85:8)

The city council of Alcala adopted a motion banning Bishop Juan Antonia Reig Pla from official city events. The motion answers the bishop's remarks criticizing homosexual lifestyle. The motion, passed on May 15th, bans Bishop Reig Pla from local festivities and calls for him to be moved to another diocese. It was presented by the political group ‘Union, Progress and Democracy’ and was backed by other left-leaning organizations as well as the Spanish Socialist Party. The ruling People’s Party has opposed the motion. The diocesan priests stated: ‘In response to these very grave acts, we express our adherence to the Catholic doctrine taught by our Father and Pastor, Bishop Reig, as well as our support for him and his apostolic ministry, and we invite all to pray for religious freedom, for our Bishop and for those who persecute the Catholic Church.’

Pray:

that this ban would be lifted and we would see a return to Spain’s Christian roots. (1Cor.3:11)

The body that keeps tabs on the terrorist threat in Belgium, the OCAD, has just heightened the country's terror alert level from 2 to 3 across Brussels. The OCAD that analyses the security situation believes that there is now a greater terrorist threat following Friday night's stabbing of two police officers on the Brussels metro. The OCAD says that the terrorist threat in Brussels is now serious. Until yesterday alert level 3 only affected the Brussels borough of Saint-Jans-Molenbeek where the arrest of a woman wearing a full veil sparked rioting. Level 3 has now been extended to the entire Brussels Region.

Pray:

that the situations which led to the terror alert rising would be calmed. (Ac.4:29)

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous says the conflict in Syria is now a full-scale civil war. The comments come after reports that the Syrian government has lost ‘large chunks of territory’ in some cities. The UN also reported members of its observer team in Syria were attacked by angry crowds as they tried to reach an embattled mountain village near President Bashar al-Assad's hometown. The vehicles also were later shot at. The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) said that it is impossible to respond to all humanitarian needs at once due to simultaneous fighting that has spread to several parts of the country. The ICRC is trying to locate hundreds of citizens believed to have fled Homs in search of safe areas.

Pray:

for the thousands of innocent families trapped in terrifying situations in Syria to receive help, aid and comfort; and may they see an end to this violence. (Gen.6:5)

An extremist ran a car full of explosives at Christ’s Chosen Church of God in Jos on Sunday morning, killing at least two and injuring 40+. The attack was the second suicide bombing of a church in two Sundays and the third church bombing in Jos in six months. It happened after the service ended. A pastor, church elders and some children remained in the sanctuary at the moment the bomb was detonated, collapsing the roof of the sanctuary. The death toll was expected to increase as injuries were severe. Also on Sunday in Borno State gunmen killed at least two Christians during church worship. The Boko Haram Islamic sect took responsibility for both assaults. A witness said the extremist was seen trying to bomb St Peter’s Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church Winning All, but could not gain entry. Each of these two churches and the bombed church are in the same road.

Pray:

for the injured, bereaved and their families, pray also against the ideologies behind these attacks, and against the desire to de-stabilize the government through violence. (Ps.42:4)

Last September we prayed for the Fiji Methodist Church to be granted permission to hold their annual conference this year after it was cancelled for the fourth year running. In 2012 the government granted permission to hold the conference if some guidelines were followed. It should not coincide with the national Hibiscus Festival in August and it must last no longer than three days it can take place from 8am to 8pm each day from Wednesday to Friday only and must be held at the Centenary Church premises. It may only discuss church matters and not political issues. Activities that traditionally accompanied the conference, including choir competition and information stands, have also been banned. The Church was warned by the police that ‘serious actions’ would be taken if the terms of the permit were breached.

Pray:

that this step forward will open the way back to democracy, pray also for the protection of every speaker and delegate before, during and after the conference. (Ps.5:11)

The Falkland Islands has announced a referendum to be held next year on its status as a British territory in an effort to fend off aggressive Argentinian claims over the South Atlantic islands. The Islands' legislative assembly said it would authorise a popular poll of the more than 3,000 residents, the first in its history, to demonstrate that the locals remain solidly in support of British ties. The announcement comes as Falkland Islanders prepare to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the unconditional surrender of the Argentinian invasion force on Thursday. David Cameron applauded the announcement from Stanley, claiming it would vindicate British support for the islands.

Pray:

that the referendum will clearly reveal the desire of the islanders, so that the issue can be finally settled..(1Sa.30:23b)

A wave of bombings across Iraq including 10 locations in Baghdad has killed 83 people and wounded nearly 300, Iraqi police say. Many of the dead in the Iraqi capital were Shia pilgrims gathering for a religious festival. In Hilla, two car bombs exploded near a restaurant, killing at least 21 people. There has been a wave of attacks on the Shia community in recent days, as it marks the anniversary of the death of Shia Imam Moussa al-Kadhim. Three bombs exploded in Kirkuk, with one of them targetting the headquarters of Kurdish President Massoud Barzani. There are also reports of bombs in Mosul, Balad, and Karbala. Violence in Iraq has fallen since the sectarian killings of a few years ago, but militants still frequently attack security forces and civilians. Wednesday has been one of the deadliest days of violence since the foreign troops withdrew from Iraq last December.

Pray:

that the violence across Iraq would cease and that Sunni, Shia and Kurdish communities would seek peace. (Gen.6:11-12)

Legislation that was recently passed by the Chilean National Congress has many pro-family groups worried about the possible fallout which, they feel, would lead to the unwarranted persecutions of Christians in the country. The vote on the bill took place on May 9, but the consequences are still being debated today. Written in the legislation is the prohibition of ‘every distinction, exclusion, or restriction’ based on an individual or group ‘that lacks a reasonable justification, carried out by agents of the government or individuals.’ The bill, specificly states that ‘any crime motivated by an ideological or discriminatory situation, whether for religion, race, ethnicity, condition, or sexual orientation, can be considered an aggravating factor by the judge.’ It is thought that the bill will lead to the persecutions of Christians due to the guidelines put forth in the bill. The bill specifically addresses that any discriminating action - whether religious or not - could result in legal action being taken.

Pray:

that the consequences that have risen because of this bill would not result in persecution and legal action. (2The.1:4)

Authorities in Iran this week ordered the closure of a church in the capital, Tehran, amid a government campaign to crack down on the few recognized churches offering Farsi-speaking services, according to a human rights group. The order came from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s Intelligence Branch, also known as Sepah. ‘Unfortunately, it is now official – the church in Janat-Abad district was ordered to shut down,’ said Monsour Borji, an Iranian Christian and advocacy officer for Rights Initiative Article 18. More than 70 Christians gather every Sunday for the Farsi-speaking service in Janat-Abad. Undoubtedly the order to close the church in the suburb of Tehran was handed down verbally, Borji said. ‘Due to an increasing number of Farsi-speaking believers – mostly MBBs (Muslim Background Believers) – it has become a cause of concern for the authorities and they now ordered it to shut down,’ he said.

Pray:

that the authorities would hold back on these closures and that God would protect the believers. (1Th.3:7)

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